Hospitals in pursuit of excellence

In-Home Palliative Care Allows More Patients to Die at Home, Leading to Higher Satisfaction and Lower Acute Care Utilization and Costs

Kaiser Permanente developed a home-based model of palliative care that uses an interdisciplinary team of providers to manage symptoms and pain, provide emotional and spiritual support, and educate patients and family members on an ongoing basis about changes in the patient's condition. One randomized controlled trial and one comparison-group study showed that the program increases patient satisfaction, increases the portion of patients dying at home rather than in the hospital, and reduces emergency department visits, inpatient admissions and costs.